What is the finished work of the cross?
One of the verses read at Mass today was from Heb 5 and it's contents got me to thinking about the common claim as to what is the finished work of Christ?
It is often claimed that the finished work of the cross as mentioned in…
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
…is our salvation.
In other words Jesus did it all, and we have no role in our own salvation.
But my claim has always been if He actually saved us by His sacrifice then all men would be saved – since He died for all men. This claim is in complete accord with the will of God.
1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
But we know that all men are not saved
Matt 7:13-14 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
So if it is not our actual salvation which is finished – what is it? Looking at what is taught in the book of Hebrews we see…
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Through His sacrifice, He became the source of salvation. A source is something you draw from but it is not necessarily something imposed on you. This makes it clear that what was finished on the cross, by His sacrifice, was the offering of the gift, the making available of salvation – not the actual fact of personal salvation for everyone.
To go a bit further in our analysis of this verse we see how it is we are called to draw from this source – through obedience to Him. This too is in complete accord with the idea that we must obey the Gospel to avoid fiery indignation.
2 Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
This seems to me to show that the finished work of the cross was simply the offering of the gift, and that we must accept that gift through loving obedience to His Gospel. In other words we are not saved by merely having faith in Him as sacrificial lamb, but also in Him in His role as shepherd.
Resurrection
Michael writes that:
“It is often claimed that the finished work of the cross as mentioned in…
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
…is our salvation.”
However, where does the resurrection fit in to this scenario? Surely without the resurrection there would not be a church and we would never have heard of Jesus Christ. Hence, the work of salvation would not have been completed without the resurrection and people witnessing to it.
The work of the cross would have been ineffective without the resurrection as without the resurrection there would have been no gathering in the upper room, no Pentecost, no church to spread the Good News and no salvation. Salvation is only possible because of the resurrection.
What would the finished work of the cross have been if Jesus had not risen in glory in the flesh? As we read in 1 Cor 15:14-17:
“And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we have given testimony against God, that he hath raised up Christ; whom he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again. For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again. And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins.”
In addition, as James Alison writes: “If there had been no resurrection, there would have been no New Testament, since the New Testament is the witness of the apostles to the resurrection, including their new-found ability to understand what led to it. Without it there would have been no new story to tell.” ( Knowing Jesus, SPCK, London, 1998, pg 6)
Any thoughts on the resurrection in the plan of salvation?
God bless
Martin